With sadness and regret, and after much consultation with my close circle of friends, I must report that I no longer have the physical and mental strength to continue our work in Haiti. I hoped that by this time – a full 8 weeks after my final chemotherapy infusion – that I would feel some …
Tag Archives: Cite Soleil
Looking Forward to 2023
In 2023, we enter our 13th year publishing the Vitruvian Man website, and we remain committed to the two most important stories in all of literature: the story of the good Samaritan and the story of the adulterous woman. We are obligated to be our brother’s keeper to ensure that all life matters. We must …
“One of Our Students Was Shot Last Night”
Yesterday evening, Justin informed me that we successfully concluded our summer camp. “Today we are surrounded by happiness,” he writes. “During the camp, the children play with each other, eat together, tell jokes, learn about their culture, and history, and learn things that can be useful to make a little money in the future, like …
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Promises to Keep
As July’s horrific violence in Citè Soleil subsided, we delayed our summer camp until the second week in August, and we completed the first of three weeks without incident last week. As many as 276 children came to the camp each day. Sadly, we could only accommodate 150; we had to turn 126 children away. …
Let Me Give You a Definition of Ethics
“Let me give you a definition of ethics: it is good to maintain life and further life; it is bad to destroy and damage life.” So writes Dr. Albert Schweitzer in his 1933 autobiography “Out of My Life and Thought.” The recipient of the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize, Dr. Schweitzer offers other thoughts that came …
A Sad Day in Citè Soleil
In a country torn by violence, earthquakes, hurricanes, political unrest, and poverty, last week may be one of the worst in Haiti’s 200+ years as a free and independent country. The United Nations reports that nearly 250 residents in Citè Soleil were killed or injured in gang warfare between July 8th and July 12th. The …
First Day of the Barefoot School
After months of study, research and planning, I am pleased to announce that our friends at the Guepard Boxing Club in Cité Soleil opened the Barefoot School this week. While we still have much work to do, we are very grateful to the families and individuals who have opened their hearts and purses to help …
Never Too Old to Learn
I love language. Though tempted to learn Esperanto – a constructed, international auxiliary language – I focus my current efforts on Haitian Creole. Many years ago, I coordinated trips for well-intentioned Americans to visit Haiti for one week. The visitors could participate as ‘instructors’ in ‘English classes’ given to the Haitian children. After several trips …
What Your Right Hand Is Doing
As our farm develops, donors have been stepping up to keep the GBCCS kitchen operating four days each week. As much as I would like to share some incredible stories about our donors, I’ve decided that moving forward, I will heed the advice of Jesus, “Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds …
The Promised Land
The deep green plants you see in this picture are Armenian cucumbers. They cover about 25 feet of a hundred-foot row. My family, friends and I are currently working 6,000 sq.ft. of 12,000 we hope to have planted by the end of August, though it is beginning to look as if the end of September …